Epidemiology, health systems research, and statistics/data systems / report of an ADAMHA workgroup.

  • United States. Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration.
Date:
1978
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Epidemiology, health systems research, and statistics/data systems / report of an ADAMHA workgroup. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    II. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND SCOPE OF REPORT Despite the urgent Congressional, PHS, and ADAMHA public health policy needs for more systematic health care research data, there have been conceptual as well as scientific and organizational barriers to develop- ing such information. Clearer conceptualizations of the major relevant fields of inquiry, their contributions, and their interrelationships are needed if useful health care policy data are to emerge. The contribu- tions of many fields and disciplines are necessary for this task, how- ever, three are particularly germane: epidemiology research; that aspect of health services research we have termed health systems research; and health statistics/data systems. ADAMHA research and data collection activities in these three fields have therefore formed the focus of this report. To clarify how we have defined these fields, and to provide a point of reference for discussions to follow, we will present a brief overview of the three fields. Particular attention is given to providing a con- ceptual framework for health systems research and its relation to the larger field of health services research and the contributing fields of epidemiology and health statistics. A. Epidemiology Research The availability of epidemiological data on the prevalence or scope of ADM disorders is prerequisite to the development of any rational ADM health care policy. It is necessary to recognize, however, that the field of epidemiology consists of much more than the application of survey methodologies to population groups. Epidemiology may be defined as the study of the distribution of dis- orders and associated problems in space and time, within a population, and of the factors that influence their distribution. An NIH Task Force on Epidemiology—’ has recently provided a more extensive description of epidemiology research activities as follows: Such study involves the identification and analysis of the inter- actions of the host and the physical, chemical, biological psy- chological and social factors in the environment. Methodology includes the collection and interpretation of data bearing on the health problem; the development and testing of hypotheses about causes of the health problem; and developing quantitative estimates of risk for subgroups of the population with the goal of disease prevention, control, and health promotion. ata